On a plane, somewhere between Los Angeles, CA and San Antonio, TX: Thanks to the interwebs, when I am traveling for an extended amount of time, I can simply click on link, fill out my mailing address, check the dates I will be gone and ask the USPS to hold onto my mail until I return.

The only problem is that when I’m gone for a really long time – or at least longer than the amount of time they let you hold mail for on their website – I can’t extend my hold time online. (Or I can’t figure it out... whatever.)

That’s right. John the Mailman has my number and I have his. John walks by my house five days a week (Sundays and one other day off). So, if there is anything weird going on when I’m not home, he can call me and let me know ASAP. Or, in cases like this, I can call him and ask if he can continue to hold my mail until I return since I can’t seem to figure it out online.

When I do get home, I’ll find my mail piled up nicely in front of my door, where John will have placed it since he knows it won’t fit into the small box it normally lives.

And I’m proud that I haven’t butt or drunk dialed him ONCE. Then again, knowing John, if I ever did, he probably would call me the next day to check in and make sure I was ok.